Batali accused of sexual harassment, steps aside
Chef, ‘The Chew’ co-host apologizes for ‘failures’
Renowned chef Mario Batali is stepping down from his company and TV show for an indefinite period after being accused of habitually sexually harassing and inappropriately touching women as he ruled his food empire.
Multiple anonymous women alleged in a story by online food-trade publication Eater New York that Batali had groped their breasts or buttocks, amid other allegations.
Without addressing the specific allegations, Batali acknowledged personal “failures” and pledged to try to “regain” the “respect and trust” of his fans, family, business partners and employees.
“I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt. Although the identities of most of the individuals mentioned in these stories have not been revealed to me, much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted,” Batali said in a statement. “That behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility and am deeply sorry for any pain, humiliation or discomfort I have caused to my peers, employees, customers, friends and family.”
Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group — which runs about two dozen restaurants owned by Batali, Joe Bastianich and others and is a partner in food-hall chain Eataly USA — said it agreed with Batali that “he will step away from the company’s operations.”
“We take these allegations very seriously,” B&B Hospitality Group said in a statement. “We pride ourselves on being a workplace for our employees where they can grow and deliver great service with equal opportunity and free from any discrimination. We have strong policies and practices in place that address sexual harassment. We train employees in these policies and we enforce them, up to and including termination.”
ABC confirmed to USA TODAY that it had temporarily removed Batali as co-host of his daytime show The Chew.
With restaurants such as Babbo Ristorante in New York, B&B Ristorante in Las Vegas and Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles, Batali built a sprawling empire that solidified his position among top American culinary icons.
Having grown his reputation with a major TV presence, including many past appearances on the Food Network, Batali published numerous cookbooks, had his name attached to sauces for sale in stores and racked up millions of followers on social media.
Batali’s misconduct was bordering on “common knowledge” in the food industry, said chef, food writer and author Allison Robicelli, who hailed the revelations as “a day of celebration” for women the TV star mistreated.
“He would behave in a certain way knowing he could get away with it,” Robicelli said, citing Batali’s phalanx of lawyers and power to make or break people’s careers. “There are hundreds of women who have been scared to say anything” about him.
In addition to Batali’s ABC gig, the Food Network has suspended plans to revive Batali’s famed show, Molto Ma
rio. The network, which had recently announced plans for several new epi- sodes, did not comment on whether it had ever received complaints about Batali’s behavior.
Eataly USA called the allegations “extremely troubling” and has supported his decision to “step away from any active involvement” with Eataly.
“Sexual harassment of any kind towards anyone in any form is unacceptable and Eataly cares deeply about creating a safe and comfortable environment for all our employees and customers, free of harassment, discrimination and retaliation,” the company said.
The Batali scandal comes amid a flurry of sexual misconduct accusations against celebrities, journalists, business titans and politicians.
In October, celebrity chef John Besh resigned from his restaurant group after sexual harassment allegations surfaced. One of the whistleblowers, Lindsey Reynolds, was part of the group
Time magazine highlighted for its Person of the Year honor.